I Solemnly Swear
by darveyscactus
Summary: It's their fifth year at Hogwarts and Ravenclaw Donna Paulsen and Gryffindor Harvey Specter run in different circles. He's a hotshot on the Quidditch pitch and she's studying hard for her future, but everything changes for them when Professor McGonagall assigns Donna to tutor Harvey for their upcoming O.W.L.s.


Every Hogwarts student knew who Harvey Specter was. The effortlessly attractive fifth year Gryffindor was a star on the Quidditch pitch. He was the best player at the school, and he knew it. Every time he played, the school was awash with rumors and speculations on which professional team he'd play on when he finished school - if he finished school.

His dad was an undersecretary to the Minister of Magic, and the family spent summers in London. Harvey and his younger brother Marcus caused more than a few problems for their father at work when they were spotted by Muggles when they dipped too far below the clouds practicing Quidditch in parks across London.

Students hung on his every word when he told stories during meal times in the Great Hall, and the best classes were the ones that Harvey was in, because everyone knew at least ten minutes of class time would be wasted with the professor reprimanding Harvey and his friends for goofing off.

Younger girls giggled and ran away in groups if Harvey smiled at them, and the younger boys puffed their chests and walked with confidence for the rest of the day if he nodded in their direction. The older boys resented him though, because even in the eyes of the girls their age no one could compare to Harvey. He was the most popular boy in school, and he reveled in it.

If you didn't know who Harvey Specter was, you just weren't paying attention. And Donna Paulsen always paid attention.

It'd been five years since Donna was introduced to a world she still couldn't believe existed at times. When she'd arrived at Hogwarts at eleven, just weeks after learning that magic wasn't just something she read about, she already felt like she was behind her classmates who'd grown up with this world as their reality. She was smart and tenacious, and even in the few years she'd spent at Muggle schools she'd topped her class each year. But what she quickly learned was that magical learning wasn't as logical as Muggle learning and her classmates from wizarding families just seemed to know things that she had no idea about. So she paid attention. She observed interactions, listened in on conversations. She did everything she could to understand and navigate the nonsensical world she'd found herself in.

While Harvey spent his afternoons and evenings loitering around the hallways and school grounds, Donna much preferred the comfortable quiet of the Ravenclaw common room. Harvey had a gaggle of friends and followers that seemed to get bigger every week, while Donna had a few very close friends. She was comfortable in the Ravenclaw common room, and while she only shared the most personal details with her closest friends, she was well-known and well-liked by those in her House. It wasn't uncommon for the boys in her year to attempt to get close to her, under the guise of homework help. Donna could see through it every time though, and dismissed them almost instantly.

On her very first trip on the Hogwarts Express, she'd befriended Rachel Zane and Katrina Bennett when the pair invited her to sit in their carriage on the train. Rachel and Katrina had known each other for years, as their fathers worked together, and they spent the entire trip excitedly educating Donna on their favorite kinds of wizarding candy. Despite Katrina being sorted into Slytherin while Rachel ended up in Ravenclaw alongside Donna, the three had been inseparable since the beginning.

Since her family first learned that Donna was a witch, her younger sister Elise had been hoping that she'd turn out to be one too. With each unexplained occurrence that happened around her, she'd become more and more convinced that her letter was coming. But it wasn't until Professor McGonagall once again showed up at the Paulsen residence the summer before Donna's third year, Elise's acceptance letter in hand, that they were sure - and Elise was absolutely over the moon.

Elise was also sorted into Ravenclaw and she and Rachel became fast friends, united in a mission to drag Donna out of her comfort zone. She wouldn't call herself shy, in fact she could hold conversations exceptionally well, but she much preferred familiar environments, especially since so much of the wizarding world was still unfamiliar to her. Elise was always after her older sister to be more adventurous though, and did everything she could to drag her out of the common room on the weekends, especially since she was finally old enough for the monthly trips to Hogsmede organized by the school.

They couldn't have run in more opposite circles if they'd tried, and except for the occasional pleasantries exchanged in class, Donna and Harvey never crossed paths - in fact Donna was pretty sure Harvey didn't even know she existed - until one day when Professor McGonagall asks them both to stay a few minutes late after transfiguration class.

"Miss. Paulsen, Mr. Specter," McGonagall says, greeting the two students who stood in front of her with a short nod.

"Professor, are we -," Donna starts to inquire, wondering what she'd done to warrant being asked to stay after class.

"No Miss. Paulsen, you're not in trouble," she confirms, "quite the opposite, actually."

"That's a first," Harvey mumbles under his breath, which earns him a stern side eye from McGonagall.

"Mr. Specter, Miss. Paulsen here has a particular penchant for Transfiguration," she explains, the compliment drawing a slight blush to Donna's cheeks, "something that you decidedly do not."

"You told me yourself that my talents lie elsewhere, Professor," Harvey replies, almost boastfully.

"Be that as it may, Mr. Specter, but your Quidditch skills won't help you pass your O.W.L.S.," McGonagall says, the tone of her voice growing more agitated with each word.

"Miss. Paulsen," she continues, turning towards Donna, "I'm hoping you'd be willing to tutor Mr. Specter for the rest of term," she says, the inflection in her voice rising slightly, but Donna isn't too convinced she's asking a question.

"I -," she pauses, her immediate reaction was no. She'd been in classes with Harvey for five years and she has a feeling that tutoring sessions with him would be an exercise in frustration. But she really admired Professor McGonagall and didn't want to let her down. "Of course, Professor," she replies, forcing herself to smile as she did so.

"Mr. Specter?" she questions, shooting him a look that made him understand there was only one suitable answer to her question.

"Yes Professor," he mumbles, turning to face Donna and offering her a small smile, which went unreciprocated.

"That's settled then," McGonagall starts, clasping her hands in front of her as she spoke, "you'll start this Thursday at 8pm - you can use my classroom," she says with a definitive nod.

"But -"

"Mr. Specter, incase you forgot, I'm your Head of House. I am _fully aware _of your Quidditch schedule," she quickly shoos back at him, "so I'll see you here Thursday at 8pm."

Donna tries her best to hide the small laugh that bubbles out of her as McGonagall reprimanded Harvey, bringing her hand to her face to cover her grin as they're dismissed. Not wanting him to comment on her amusement, she scampers out of the classroom before Harvey even gets a word in.

As Harvey trudges back to his Common Room, he thinks about what had just happened. His parents had been on him for years about his grades, saying that a Quidditch career wasn't guaranteed, so he figured forced tutoring was coming eventually. What puzzles him, though, was the red head's seeming reluctance to work with him. It wasn't that he expected all girls to fawn over him instantly, but he knew this particular girl never had. He'd recognize that striking red hair anywhere, having stared at it in class for the better part of five years, but he'd never been able to get a read on her. As he mutters the password and climbs through the portrait hole into the Gryffindor Common Room, he finds himself looking forward to Thursday. Not for the tutoring, but the chance to finally crack the code that was the illustrious Donna Paulsen.

* * *

"Excuse me," Rachel huffs at Donna the next morning as she falls onto the bench next to her at one of the long tables in the Great Hall, "I was just with Mike and he told me that you're tutoring Harvey?"

"What?" Elise gasps from her position across the table, nearly dropping the scone she had in her hand.

"Interesting, and what is it you were doing with Mike this morning exactly?" Donna sasses, smirking at her friend over the rim of her mug.

"I am _not _the topic of this conversation," Rachel shoots back quickly, with makes Elise laugh and Donna roll her eyes.

Donna, Katrina, and even Elise were always teasing Rachel about her and Mike. Despite her insistence that things were causal between the pair - and that they weren't dating - their frequent late night and early morning rendezvous and weekends spent traipsing the castle grounds together said otherwise.

"What's this I hear about you tutoring Harvey Specter?" Katrina asks, pulling Donna out of her thoughts as she joins them at their table.

"Is this pinned on some notice board somewhere?" Donna asks with a laugh, "how do _you _know?"

"Oh, Rachel told me," Katrina replies with a shrug, "I ran into her after she and Mike tumbled out of the broom closet near the Prefect's bathroom," she adds with a smirk.

"_Anyways," _Rachel says, breathing out a sigh and desperate to steer the conversation away from her and Mike, "how did this happen exactly?" she asks, gesturing to Donna to fill them in on her conversation with Professor McGonagall the night before.

Bright winter sun streamed through the large windows of the Great Hall and the excited chatter of hundreds of students rises to the ceiling as dozens of owls swept into the Hall carrying the day's mail. Harvey is half paying attention to a letter from their parents being read aloud by Marcus, who'd joined him from his usual spot at the Hufflepuff table, when Mike slides into the seat across from Harvey, adjusting his tie.

"Nice of you to join us this morning," Harvey jokes as Mike reaches across the table for the basket of pastries.

"I had some business to attend to," Mike shoots back, and the shit-eating grin spread across his face confirms Harvey's suspicion that his 'business' that morning was one Rachel Zane.

"Yeah yeah," he shrugs dismissively, but follows Mike's gaze across the hall as it lands at the Ravenclaw table where Rachel is chatting and laughing with Donna, Katrina, and Elise.

"Hey," Harvey starts to inquire, "what do you know about that redhead?" gesturing to Donna, "she's friends with Rachel, right?"

"Yeah," Mike confirms, "they're practically attached at the hip. Why?" he questions.

"McGonagall is having her tutor me for the rest of term," Harvey explains with a sigh, resting his chin on his forearms, folded on the table in front of him.

"Tutoring," Mike says with a breath, "so that's what the kids are calling it these days."

"You're one to talk," Harvey quickly volleys back, his gaze shifting once again to Rachel and Donna seated across the hall.

"Seriously though," Harvey says after a couple seconds, "what's she like?"

"She's funny," Mike admits with a slight smile, "she's smart, and really put together, and she always seems to be one step ahead, which is kind of annoying, but she's hot - like that hair, come on," he finishes, gesturing to the girl in question.

"You do realize she's not the one you're 'dating or whatever'? Harvey jokes, using air quotes to emphasize the phrase Mike himself used to describe his relationship with Rachel.

"Doesn't mean I can't appreciate beauty when see it," Mike replies, causing Harvey to roll his eyes and laugh under his breath.

Harvey didn't say anything else, but continued to stare across the hall, gaze fixed on the redhead at the Ravenclaw table chatting adamantly with her friends.

"Wait a second," Mike says, taking in Harvey's facial expression and intense gaze, "are you _intimidated _by this Donna girl?" he asks, hint of disbelief in his voice.

"I am _not _intimidated," Harvey huffs quickly, sitting up straight to address his friend, "I'm interested. She's hard to get a read on, and I want to know more."

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed the start of this - many more chapters coming soon(ish) - stay tuned!**


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